No session last week or even midweek. had a run in with a hornet and found out I am more allergic than I thought I was.

Matt had eye surgery a few weeks ago and finally got the ok to get punched in the head…
2 rounds shadow boxing
4 rounds boxing
1 round savate

On with the jackets for some sambo…
2 rounds grip work
2 rounds freestyle sambo
1 round par terre.

Sambo is fun but more than a little rough, often we are turned upside down during a throw or groundwork, stomach acid has no respect for the authority of gravity (what does that mean? I don’t know) we call it sambo reflux. Often heartburn follows a good training session. I also suffer from something I call sambo amnesia. I have the hardest time remembering how we get to the ground even if I am the guy doing the throwing. Often I have to ask my training partner what just happened. Strange but like I said, fun.

Out came the navaja trainers. After a quick refresher on some basics we spent some time throwing a viaje or three. A viaje is a low line thrust to the belly, there are several different methods for doing this. We focused on a fully committed attack sometimes with a standard grip, some times with a Mediterranean grip(edge up). We also worked our cambios (hand switches)and switched from a viaje to a desjarretazo or ripping attack. We ended with a review of technique using the faja or sash, the finale being a bout using the faja and navaja in conjunction.

We then went over some of Dempsey’s basics for power generation, this time we applied them to elbow strikes…brutal! We also hit the shovel hook, both to the head and to the body. My favorite punch. Last we applied Dempsey’s mechanics to holding and hitting, the shoulder whirl is a thing of beauty.

Good session, felt good to get to hitting people again.

So what is happening in your training sessions? I really want to steal some of what you do.

Midweek session for Matt and I today. We have been focusing so hard on
sambo for the last month that it was time to take a break and do some
drilling and bouting with weapons for a change.

1 Dussack…we had two spirited bouts uising the PH leather dussacks.
I can feel these bouts in my legs still.

2 Longsword…just went over some basic binds then worked on them in
real time with resistance.

3 Shillelagh…two bouts with this overly fun weapon. We took up the
mats so we made the rule that we were not to go to the ground. Still
a constant struggle much less strategy and more gagression.

4 Sparth axe…we went outside and reintroduced ourselves to this most
brutal of weapons. It is good to get swinging once again. Have some
serious work with these planned in the coming weeks. Had two fun bouts
with these monsters.

5 Mountain axe..two bout with plenty of smashed hands. These are
really like the shillelaghs in the level of aggression that comes out.

6 E-tool…just one brutal round of shovel sparring. Brutal sums it up.

7 Navaja…two bouts using CS trainers. Been a while, great fun can’t
wait to do it again soon.

Overall fun session. Different energy, weapons vs unarmed, not less or
more just a different feel. Will go back to the mixed workout next
time around.

Before I get into the meat of the post I will give a quick rundown of our session last Wednesday…
Chris, Matt and I.
2 rounds shadow boxing
2 rounds 3 count cadence drill
2 rounds feed and follow footwork
1 round freestyle footwork
Once again we worked on mechanics for the straight rear…this time we added the Jab first and followed with a lead hook. Really keeping Dempsey’s shoulder whirl on the mind and making sure our form was a perfect as we could.

Next up Sambo…
Since we had the Sambo tournie coming up on Saturday we wanted to do a nice light sambo workout.
4 rounds offbalance grip work
2 rounds sport sambo
We then went over some of the basic throws we were looking to land.

Roll on Saturday…
Doors opened at 9:30 AM in Chillicothe OH about 4 hours SW of us. I gave Chris the wrong time and he missed riding with us…totally my screw up.

Lots and lots of competitor in sparring and grappling so many that at 4 PM sambo was still a distant thought. Prior commitments made us have to leave at 4 so we missed sambo altogether but since they did not get started before 6 they ended up canceling the sambo competition. I felt less bad about messing up the time for Chris.

So we talked on the way home about how bummed we were that we did not get to compete. That was the only real con, on the pro side…we worked really hard for over a month on improving our sambo and it did indeed improve…so even though we did not get to compete, it was far form a total bust.